The present invention relates generally to providing temporary lighting and, more particularly, is concerned with a portable light support apparatus and a method of erecting and collapsing the light support apparatus.
A wide variety of situations exist where the need for temporary lihhting arises because no other adequate sources of illumination are readily available. For instance, lighting of such nature is necessary at construction sites, at scenes of nighttime automobile accidents, or at unlighted outdoor locations where repair or other work is being carried out.
To meet this need effectively, the temporary lighting equipment should have a number of different capabilities. First, the equipment should be portable in nature. Its construction should allow it to be easily carried or towed to the desired location. Second, the equipment should require minimal skills to set it up for use and, conversely, to take it down after use. Third, the equipment should be able to carry its own power supply, if needed. Fourth, the equipment should employ only the amount of structure essential to provide a reliable light support. The weight of the equipment will then be kept to a minimum thereby making the equipment less costly in most cases and making the task of transporting the equipment as easy as possible. Fifth, the equipment should be collapsible to a smaller size when not in use to facilitate its storage in a minimum amount of space.
Many different structures for providing temporary lighting appear in the prior patent art. Representative of the prior art are the lighting support structures disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 136,799 to Vendope, and U.S. Pat. Nos. to Senter (1,622,057), Moehler (1,765,028), Rose (2,352,496), Allmand et al (2,899,540), Pile (3,783,262), Barber et al (4,181,929), Dietz (4,232,357), Dimiceli (4,363,084), Shirley (4,463,413), Gosswiller (4,488,209), Small (4,523,256), Dahlgren (4,600,980) and Welt (4,624,259). Many of these structures might operate reasonably well and generally achieve their objectives under the limited range of operating conditions for which they were designed. However, it appears that most, if not all, fail to provide one or more of the abovedescribed capabilities.
Consequently, a need still exists for a light support structure having increased and improved capabilities along the lines described above.